Rosebud by Horsman

This is 'Rosebud'. She was made by the Horsman Doll Co. in the 1930's.
She was a typical 'Mama doll' of the time. She is jointed at the shoulders, hips and neck. She has a voice-box inside her torso that no longer works. She has tin sleep eyes. She once had a nice wig.....now she has a nasty synthetic wig that does not suit her.

Her paint layer has mostly failed.
Someone has drawn on some eyebrows and eyelashes.

Her original cloth body has been recovered and one arm is taped up.

So we start by peeling off some of the nastier layers.

Here she has had the synthetic wig removed, the re-cover of the body has been removed and the tape on the arm is gone.

I see why the arm was taped up now.....but there are better ways to mend broken composition than tape.

Roadblock!
Usually I like totally dismantling a doll like this to wash and repair it's cloth body.
But Rosebud has less common joints at her shoulders. To dismantle these, I would have to grind off the post which would destroy the joint apparatus.
So the body will get a surface cleaning only. It is still sturdy despite it's slightly grungy look......the body will not be seen once she has clothes anyways.....

Her silent voicebox will get its bellows replaced so hopefully she will squawk again.
















The bellows have been replaced so it is time to hear a 1930's high-tech sound....

Here is Rosebud's head before her failing paint got addressed:

And here she is after:

Now she has completed her new paint and is waiting for the rest of her reassembly. Those are her teeth sitting below her eye rocker. They are made from a simple piece of celluloid that had tooth shapes cut along one edge and then it was glued inside the head at the mouth opening with a piece of red felt behind it. This is a fairly common tooth assembly found in composition dolls.

Now she is back together. A wig is needed next.

Here she is with a vintage human hair wig and a 'new' dress made from antique calico.